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Attack on woman journalist in park: Our safety can't be taken for granted

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Vichitra Amarnathan
Vichitra AmarnathanApr 06, 2017 | 17:12

Attack on woman journalist in park: Our safety can't be taken for granted

On Wednesday (April 5), Aparna Kalra, a journalist, was attacked while she had stepped out for a walk around 6 in the evening. This was a neighbourhood park frequented by people for morning and evening walks. Yet, there are no eyewitnesses to the attack.

Earlier this year, a DU professor, Radhika Menon, was looted and beaten in broad daylight at a petrol pump in Mayur Vihar. Nobody came forward to help her and I am not sure if anyone was punished for the crime. 

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Street violence against women in India is now a given and somehow a lesser crime (there are bigger things like cow slaughter), but every now and then a particularly vicious incident makes you wonder how much can women curtail themselves. The Nirbhaya rape case happened at 8.30 in the evening in bustling Munirka. She was also accompanied by a male companion.

Not long back (2012), India was named the worst country for women in the world by the Reuters TrustLaw group in part because women themselves (54 per cent) felt that wife beating is justified and deserved.

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'A late night run is too much to ask for.'

The winning streak continues for India, spilling over to the outside. After all, as you are inside so shall you be on the outside. As women get more and more used to their lesser status and ill-treatment at home, they do the same on the street.

A recent study conducted by ActionAid UK showed that nearly 4 out of 5 women are harassed in public spaces in India. This may be sexual harassment, assault, or molestation. The streets are owned by men and we simply get by with living lesser. We make decisions and compromises that range from not stepping out at certain times to changing the way we dress (as if that would help) to avoiding living in certain areas even if it means more travel. But none of this changes the ugly statistic that stares at us.

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What needs to change hasn't

A late night run is too much to ask for. Smoking in public is risky because you might be taken for someone with loose morals. Going out unaccompanied at night is silly so make friends who have cars and who will religiously pick you up and drop you. And now, don't go for a walk in the park alone. Where does one draw the line?

There has been a lot of talk around designing safer public spaces along the lines of the "Safe Cities for Women" movement. But it is not the space women fear. It is the people. Both the perpetrators and those who watch unaffected.

I remember an incident that happened with me in the evening in Green Park market. I was beaten by two men for having told them off when they passed lewd remarks at me and a friend and threw stones at us. The auto I was in actually stopped for these two people and the driver did nothing as they walked up to me, threatened me, beat me and threw my things around. This was at 8 in the evening.

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I don't care for well-designed spaces. How about we be better human beings? How about some more people step up as eyewitnesses or gang up and help a victim? Until that happens a well lit park or market continues to be unsafe.

And while we are busy talking about Mira Rajput and Kareena Kapoor's non-existent view on feminism and while a big bunch of people reject the whole idea, how about understanding it and embracing it with fervour? There is a huge link between a strong feminist movement and a lower rate of crime against women.

The link between feminism and crime against women

In their study spanning 70 countries over four decades (1975 to 2005), authors Laura Weldon and Mala Htun found that having a strong feminist movement was one of the biggest factors in ensuring comprehensive policies on violence against women and hence action.

The issue of violence against women requires us to challenge gender stereotypes and question male privilege. One of the biggest reasons for crimes against women is not the design of public spaces or how women dress or the time at which they step out but how they are viewed by men.

A stronger feminist movement encourages women to view themselves in better light, report crimes more often rather than living with it and pushes government's into action by way of policy changes.

Until we have public figures who are reticent of saying they are feminist, men who are up in arms when they hear the term or those who believe feminism is a threat to the family structure, women will continue to believe they are lesser. Men will continue to believe women are lesser. Women will tolerate violence in general and work their way around street violence and we will have another case that threatens someone's life.

Last updated: April 06, 2017 | 17:12
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